Sugar Grains

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Strong zip-top bag or folded lint-free kitchen cloth
• •Rolling pin or small mortar and pestle
• •Coarse wire sieve with 2 to 3 mm openings
• •Fine-mesh sieve with 0.5 to 1 mm openings
• •Small heavy saucepan
• •1-inch (2.5 cm) pastry brush

Instructions

1. 1

   Choose the grain

   Set a coarse wire sieve over a finer sieve, with a wide bowl underneath. For coarse cake-border grains, use openings of about 3 mm above a mesh near 1 mm; for finer grains, use about 2 mm above a mesh near 0.5 mm. What passes through the upper sieve but remains on the lower one is your chosen grade. The powder must fall completely away.

   Exact mesh sizes are less important than having two clearly different sieves. The upper one rejects large fragments, while the lower one releases dust.
2. 2

   Pound the sugar

   Put one-quarter of the sugar cubes into a strong zip-top bag and cover it with a folded kitchen towel. Strike them with short, controlled taps from a rolling pin until you have fragments ranging from pinhead to small lentil size. Pound, don't grind. Work through the remaining cubes in small batches so you can stop before they disappear into powder.

3. 3

   Sift the grains

   Tip one batch into the upper sieve and shake gently until the smaller fragments fall through. Return the large pieces caught above to the bag for another light pounding. Lift away the upper sieve, then shake the finer one until the powder falls into the bowl and clean grains remain on its mesh. If the first batch turns mostly to powder, stop. Ça se rattrape: reserve that sugar for pastry or custard, then pound the next cubes with lighter, fewer taps. Powder cannot be pressed back into honest grains.

   The grains are ready when they look irregular but bright, with no chalky dust clinging to them. If they look cloudy, keep sifting.
4. 4

   Hold them dry

   Transfer the finished grains to a completely dry, airtight jar. Keep coarse and fine grades in separate jars if you made both. Moisture begins dissolving their edges, so the sugar stays well away from the apricot and pastry brush until the moment of application.

5. 5

   Cook the apricot

   Put the apricot preserves in a small saucepan over low heat. Once loose, let them bubble briskly for about 1 minute, stirring, until glossy, smooth, and tacky enough to cling to the brush. If the cooked apricot tightens too far, remove it from the heat and stir in the water a few drops at a time; if it runs like syrup, cook it for another 30 seconds. Keep it warm while you work.

6. 6

   Border the cake

   Set the finished cake or sugared-paste base over parchment to catch the excess. Brush a thin, even band of warm cooked apricot exactly where the grains should sit, working in manageable sections so it remains tacky. Sprinkle grains over a horizontal border, or cup them in your hand and press them gently against a vertical side. If they shed, the apricot cooled or the coating was too thin. Ça se rattrape: lift away the loose grains, rewarm a spoonful of apricot, brush the bare patch, and apply them again. Leave the border undisturbed for 15 minutes, then tip away any unattached sugar. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose firm white sugar cubes without flavoring or brown syrup. They are the honest home replacement for loaf sugar because they fracture into irregular pieces; loose granulated sugar is already too small, while pearl sugar gives a different, uniform finish.
• •Keep the food processor in its cupboard. Its blade grinds the outside of each fragment into powder before the middle breaks evenly. A rolling pin gives you control, and control is the whole technique here.
• •Save every bit of sifted powder. It remains perfectly good sugar for custards, pastry dough, or sweetening fruit. The old pastry room wasted nothing, and neither should yours.
• •Cooked apricot should leave a thin tacky veil, not a visible layer of jam. Too much softens the sugar from beneath; too little lets the grains tumble off when the cake is moved.

Advance Preparation

• •The sifted grains can be made several weeks ahead. Store each grade in a dry, airtight jar away from the stove, sink, and any source of humidity.
• •The cooked apricot can be prepared up to one week ahead and refrigerated in a covered jar. Rewarm it gently until brushable, adjusting with a few drops of water only if it remains too stiff.
• •Apply the grains after the cake's surface has set and preferably on the day it will be served. A dry room preserves their crisp edges; prolonged refrigeration gradually dissolves them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 13g)